Can someone give me some examples of how you use close reading in your classes. How is close reading vs guided reading? I am not sure I am exactly understanding what close reading is other than looking at a text closely and rereading it more than once?

I think the purpose of close reading is to focus on particular text features, while guided reading's focus is overall comprehension.

In close reading,
- the students read the text once, just to find out what it's about
- the students read the text again, this time given a specific task to look for something which focuses their attention on a particular aspect of the text
- the students may repeat step 2, looking for another aspect of the text.

For example, if you want to focus on character traits, for the second reading, you would have the students highlight any adjectives used to describe the character. You could do a third reading highlighting the character's actions.

Search the internet for "close reading tasks" for more (better) examples.

Close reading can be done as a full class activity. The concept of close reading is the actual time students spend reading and understanding a specific text. This does not include extra activities, worksheets, or movement activities; simply reading and understanding the given text.